Wrench



UNITED STATES 4 ATENT OFFICE.

FRANK S. KAUFMAN AND CHARLES W. KAUFMAN, OF SGRANTON, PENNSYLVANIA.

WRENCH.

. SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 574,094, dated December 29, 1896.

Application filed July 16, 1896.. Serial No. 599,454. ,(No model.)

To all whom it out concern.-

Be it known that we, FRANK S. KAUFMAN and CHARLES W. KAUFMAN, citizens of the United States, residing at Scranton, in'the county of Lackawanna and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Wrench, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to improvements in that class of nut-wrencl1es having a revoluble ratchet nut-hub operating in connection with a pawl to limit the rotation of said nut-socket in one direction in the stock or handle.

Our improved wrench is constructed in a very simple manner and of few parts to enable it to be manufactured and sold at a low price and to render it durable and eflieient in operation, the leading feature being the production of a wrench especially designed for service on nuts of two different sizes.

The invention consists of the novel construction and combination of parts, which will be hereinafter fully described and claimed.

WVe have illustrated our improved wrench in the aceompanyin g drawings, forming apart of this specification, and in which- Figure 1 is a plan View of the wrench complete, showing the screws for fastening the two plates together. Fig. 2 is a plan View of the grooved plate, the top plate being omitted, showing the ratchet-hubs, the pawl-rods, and the spring in position. Fig. 3 is an edge view of the complete wrench. Fig. 4 is a cross-section through the stock on the line at x of Fig. 1, showing the form of the two plates and a pawl-rod therein. Fig. 5 is an edge view of the ratchet-hub. Fig. 6 is a detail longitudinal sectional view on the plane indicated by the dotted line y y of Fig. 1. Figs. 7 and 8 are plan views showing the inner faces of the two plates which form the stock or handle of the wrench.

Like letters of reference denote correspond ing parts in all the figures of the drawings, referring to which-- y A A designate the two ratchet-hubs, which are fitted in the respective ends of a stock or handle 13. This stock consists of two plates 0 D, of corresponding shape, which are adapted to be placed face to face and to exactly register one with the other to present a neat appearance. The plate 0 has smooth inner and outer faces, and the ends of said plate are enlarged and rounded, as at e, and provided with circular openings o 0, said plate being also provided with screw-apertures 0 within the rounded ends, as shown. Except for the openings 0 o and screw-holes c the plate 0 is solid, and its surfaces are unbroken and continuous. The other plate D has enlarged and rounded ends d, in which are formed the circular openings d d, and said plate is further provided on its inner face with the straight longitudinal channel (1 which extends continuously of the plate from opening d to opening 01, the ends of said channel d extending into the openings as shown. This channel lies centrally between the edges of the plate, and it is of uniform width and depth' throughout its entire length. The plateD is further provided with threaded holes d positioned to aline with the screw-holes c in the plate, and screws 0 c are passed through the holes 0 in plate 0 and engage with the threads in the holes (1 of plate D to firml y bind or unite the two plates. The end of the hole d on the inner face of the plate D is larger than the hole 0' of the plate 0, and the hole 01" is also larger on the inner face of the plate D than hole 0" in plate 0; but within these holes d d" of the plate D are provided the annular flanges e c, which project into the holes d d and lie flush with the outer face of said plate D, the diameters of the flanges e 6 corresponding to the diameter of the holes a 0, respectively. It will be noted that these flanges e e do not extend the full width or thickness of the plate D, but that they are narrower than the thickness of the plate and that they lie flush with the outer face of the plate D, thus forming circular recesses e on the inner face of the plate D. When the plates 0 Dare bound together, these recesses e are between the solid inner face of the plate 0 and the flanges e e" of plate D, and these recesses accommodate .95

the ratchet flanges or teeth on the revoluble hubs A A, as shown by Figs. 2 and 6.

Each hub is a single piece of cylindrical contour externally and of a diameter to fit in alined holes 0 d or c" d of the plates 0 D. The hub has a square or polygonal socket g to receive a nut to be turned, and the length of the hub is greater than the combined thickness of the two plates, so that the ends of the hub project slightly beyond the outer faces of plates, so that the nut may fit snugly in the socket of the hub. ,The hub is further provided with a central annular flange, in which is cut the ratchet-teeth h, and the hub is so fitted in the plates that the r'atchetteeth thereof occupy the recess 6 said ratchetteeth being confined laterally by the flanges e or e on one side or by the face of the plate 0 on the other side.

It will be seen that the hub is journaled in the alined openings of the pair of plates so as to rotate freely in the stock and that the ratchet-teeth prevent the hub from sidewise play and displacement.

G H designate the endwise-movable pawlrods, each consisting of a straight length or bar of metal of square form in cross-section and of a size to fit snugly in the straight channel of the plate D. The rods are free to slide endwise in the channeled plate, and they are guided by the walls of the channel and by bearing against the straight face of the plate 0. The outer ends of the rods are beveled in reverse directions to each otherto form the noses a t" and enable the pawls to prop erly engage with the ratchet-teeth of the revoluble hubs E F, so as to hold them against turning in one direction when the wrench is manipulated to adjust the nut, but these pawls are designed to yield and to slip past the teeth on the hubs when the wrench is turned in. the reverse direction, as will be understood. The pawls are of such a length as to leave a part of the channel unoccupied, and between the adjacent ends of the pawls is fitted a coiled-spring J. This spring fills the space in the channel between the adjacent ends of the pawls and its ends bear against the pawls, so that the spring is common to the two pawls and serves to normally impel them into engagement with the ratchet-teeth on the The pawls and spring are held in the hubs.

channel between the two plates, so that they areconcealed from View and protected from injury by said plates.

Our wrench is extremely simple in construction, and the few number of parts and its simplicity insure its manufacture at a low cost and tend to promote the durability and efficiency of the device.

It is thought that the operation and advantages of our improvement will be readily understood and appreciated from the foregoing description, taken in connection with the drawings.

Having thus fully described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

As a new article of manufacture, the ratchet-wrench herein shown and described comprising the plate D having the central continuous channel of uniform depth and width and the openings 61, 01 provided with the internal flanges c, 6 arranged flush with the outer face of the plate and of less thickness than the body of the plate to form the annular recesses on the inner face of said plate, the plate 0 having a flat inner face and the openings 0, c coincident with the openings d, d and of a diameter corresponding to the diameter of the openings formed by the flanges e, e", the cylindrical hubs fitted in the openings 0, c of plate 0 and the flanges of the plate D and provided with central ratchet-teeth that occupy the recesses of the plate D and bear laterally against the flanges e, e and the inner face of plate 0, the straight rods fitted in the channel of plate D, and a single coiled spring interposed between the adjacent ends of the rods, as and for the purposes described.

FRANK S. KAUFMAN. O. W. KAUFMAN.

Witnesses:

PETER J. FARRELL, THOMAS F. OlVIALLEY. 

